Go, Baby, Go!

IUI number 2 is complete and I feel super psyched and so hopeful about this cycle! It's been a long day for E and I, we had to be up early to meet the nurse at 8:30am to deliver our cryotank. She took my vitals, had me sign the consent form and then gave us about two hours to kill. Since we didn't want to sit around in the waiting room, we drove to the nearby coffee bean and had some breakfast. I'm absolutely in love with their chai latte with almond coconut milk, it's delicious :)

After breakfast it was back to the waiting room to wait some more. They were running really behind today and had a ton of patients to see. We finally went back to a room and Nurse C joined us with her  trainee nurse, Nurse M, who will be replacing Nurse C when she retires.  She's really nice and I enjoy her bedside manner a lot, but she's not quite as good as Nurse C. Nurse M put my speculum in wrong, OW, and Nurse C had to reposition it and take over the IUI later when Nurse M couldn't get the catheter in.

Before we got down to business, Nurse C asked us to confirm our donor number and make sure everything was labeled correctly. Our count this time was phenomenal, 148 million with 70% motility post thaw! Last cycle was only 50 million with 50% motility so I'm feeling much more confident about our swimmers this time. Come on boys (and girls!), you can do it!

Our tiny vial, this thing cost $850

Nurse M tried to insert the flexible catheter but seemed to have difficulty with the internal portion of my cervix. It was pretty uncomfortable, though not painful, to have her poking around and I was relieved and felt much better about Nurse C taking over. Nurse M had the speculum jammed straight in, instead of following the natural curve of your body, and I didn't realize how poorly it was positioned until Nurse C adjusted it down and my legs dropped like 6 inches. She swapped the catheter out for a stiffer one, popped it right in on the first go and said

"Here we go! There go your little guys, and gals!"

This time, we chose to inspire our swimmers with the classic 80's movie soundtrack of Look Who's Talking while I laid with me knees up for 30 minutes:

I hope they were inspired by the Beach Boys to follow the trail leading them towards all those eggs. I was a little worried about when I would ovulate and whether it had happened or not, I know many women say they can feel ovulation when they are releasing multiple eggs and I hadn't felt anything. Nurse C told me not to worry about it and she was right, as I'm typing this now at 6:30 I can feel definite uncomfortable cramping on the side where I have 5 eggs. It's starting to hurt so I'm hoping those follies are all rupturing and releasing their eggs!

After the IUI, E and I went and stuffed ourselves at The Smoke House. It's a decent steakhouse, not super high end, but full of that old school-red-booth-dim-lighting steakhouse charm. I had a little fillet with mashed potatoes, spinach and insanely delicious garlic bread while E had BBQ ribs and chicken with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. It was indulgent celebration lunch, a little off diet, and it filled the time gap between our IUI and my acupuncture appointment. We used to go all the time for celebrations when we lived in The Valley and now I drive past it on my way to acupuncture and long to stop and order that garlic bread. I was so glad I got my fix at last :)

With my tummy full to bursting and my eyes heavy, acupuncture was wonderful as usual and I slept from 2:00pm-3:30pm. S is feeling really good about this cycle too and told me that Dr. K called and asked her what on earth she was giving me to grow so many follicles so big! I love that my whole team is so supportive, it makes me feel well taken care of. While I was asleep with my needles in, E went down the street and treated himself to an ass kicking 60 minute massage where they bent and twisted him like a pretzel until he felt amazing. I'm going to have to go and try this place myself at some point, he gave it a glowing two thumbs up. 

I start my most hated Endometrin on Thursday and thus begins the dreaded two week wait. My blood test is scheduled for Sunday July 6th and I can already tell I won't be able to wait to test this time. I have acupuncture again tomorrow to help the egg and sperm find each other and then another session on Friday to help encourage implantation. I'm trying to focus on work to keep myself busy while also being careful not to stress or overexert myself. The gym is off limits, I'm not supposed to lift heavy things and I've already been tested today when I went to move a piece of furniture and realized it fell under the category of "things I shouldn't be doing" ugh. 

It's going to be a long two weeks to find out that this cycle was a success. I really think we did it this time!

Baby Making!

We did it! E and I had our IUI appointment this morning and hopefully millions of little swimmers are headed for my (hopefully healthy!) egg as we speak. The appointment ended up being a two part process with a break in between.

First, we got to our appointment at 9am.  E had a little trouble parking but eventually got an excellent spot right by the front door. I had my vitals taken, blood pressure and temperature, and we dropped off our swimmers. The processing takes a little while to complete so the nurse suggested we go grab a quick bite. 

It is hotter than hell today, over 100 degrees, and E's only request was that we not walk far in the heat. Lucky for him, there was a busy Mexican restaurant right across the street from the hospital and I love Mexican food, morning, noon and night. I got a delicious pollo asada plate, chicken breast and beans, and E had some yummy looking heuvos rancheros. It was the perfect little pick me up before the procedure and was just enough to tide me over. We had a quick walk back to the hospital and then it was time!

Go swimmers, go!

The actual IUI itself went very quickly. The sperm was loaded into the syringe with a catheter, the nurse put the speculum in, definitely the most uncomfortable part, threaded the catheter in which just felt like a little pressure and bam, swimmers are on their way. Afterwards I laid with my knees up for 15 minutes and since my acupuncturist insists that sperm respond to positive energy, E and I played some music and sent positive thoughts to my egg and the swimmers. I had really minimal cramping and the tiniest bit of blood a couple hours later, but overall I feel pretty good.

I have everything crossed, hoping that a lucky sperm makes it to a healthy egg with my unaffected X chromosome. We are so ready for a family and it feels so close. My pregnancy test should be done around May 28th and until then I'm going to try and keep myself occupied. Tonight is my friend's bachelor party and we're hitting up Yamashiro for some steak and sushi and the Laugh Factory for some entertainment. It should be a wonderful night and an excellent distraction.